London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Art should be given the same status as reading, writing and arithmetic in schools, Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota said today.

The Government plans to omit art from the list of core subjects for the English Baccalaureate Certificates which will replace GCSEs.

Sir Nicholas said this would lead to spending cuts on the arts in schools and could mean that Britain will lose its “leading edge in creativity”.

Other creative disciplines such as drama, music and design are also omitted from the core list for the EBaccs, although pupils will still be able to take exams in those subjects.

Sir Nicholas said: “There is a risk that fewer and fewer schools will provide learning opportunities in the arts. The UK’s leading edge in creativity may be lost. We cannot deprive a generation of the cultural skills they will need.”

Sir Nicholas was speaking as he published Tate’s annual report, which revealed that more than 4.7 million people visited Tate Modern last year. Tate Britain received 1.4 million visitors, down on last year because of major refurbishment work.

Teaching unions have warned that pupils will be denied access to high-quality education in the subjects.

Art remains a popular subject at GCSE and A-level but teachers fear fewer pupils will take it if there is no incentive to gain extra Baccalaureate marks.

Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “There is an obvious gap in the new proposals — the need to encourage breadth of learning and development through participation in sport, culture, arts and volunteering.”